Music

Mercury Prize shortlist: a look at the nominations part 2

With the 2013 Barclaycard Mercury Prize Albums of the Year awards show just 5 days away, here’s a look at the remaining 6 nominees: Jon Hopkins: Immunity, Laura Marling: Once I Was An Eagle, Laura Mvula: Sing To The Moon, Rudimental: Home, Savages: Silence Yourself, Villagers: Awayland.

Jon Hopkins: Immunity
Electronic producer Jon Hopkins’ fourth studio album is reportedly constructed around the highs and lows of a night out. It gets an 8.5 from Pitchfork, who describe it as “a remarkably visceral, sensual, confident electronic record that stays absorbing from beginning to end”.

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Laura Marling: Once I Was An Eagle
It seems like this 23 year old can do no wrong. Laura Marling’s fourth album has once again garnered rave reviews. NME gives it a well-deserved 9/10: “Four albums into a remarkable career in which she’s yet to put a foot wrong, Marling is still waiting for her chorus. ‘Once I Was An Eagle’ sets a high bar; does anyone doubt she’ll soar over it?”

Laura Marling - Master Hunter

Laura Mvula: Sing to the Moon
With 3.5 stars from Rolling Stone, Laura Mvula’s debut album encapsulates the zeitgeist of UK pop music. “Her immaculately crafted LP sounds like Jill Scott, Feist, Tune-Yards and a 1940s film score simultaneously cranking on a vintage gramophone.”

Laura Mvula - Green Garden

Rudimental: Home
7/10 says NME of Rudimental’s Home, and with “more bangers than a barbecue at a firework factory”, this debut by the London drum and bass quartet is packed full of thumping rhythms and catchy vocals that will undoubtedly have people flocking to the dance floor.

Rudimental - Free (ft. Emeli Sandé) [Official Video]

Savages: Silence Yourself
Pitchfork gives Silence Yourself an 8.7, describing it as “one of rock’s most commanding and ferociously poised debuts in recent years.” This post-punk foursome have created an artistic debut that’s delightfully challenging. Who says noisy guitars can’t be precise?

Savages - "Shut Up"

Villagers: Awayland
“O’Brien’s smiling-through-tears vocal that makes him sound like he’s going to explode with sorrow or joy at any minute is extraordinary” says NME, giving Awayland  7/10. Villagers’ answer to their more acoustic debut has a poppier, more refined sound, proving that an Irish indie folk outfit can do no wrong.

Villagers - Nothing Arrived (Official Video)